Gender Stereotypes In How To Get Away With Murder

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In a world where lesbians in media are reduced to “fighting, f*cking, crying, drinking, riding, winning, losing, cheating, kissing” (The L Word) and gay men are (queer as folk sparkly silver spandex + cowboy hats and nothing else while gyrating furiously), it becomes easy to see how queer folks might be stereotyped as hypersexual. This explicit portrayal, combined with a penchant for polyamory, a notable increase in rates of sexual activity, and gathering places that are intrinsically sexual, leaves this minority group as one that undeniably is perceived as more sexual than those who belong to the (fancy word for normal/dominant group). However, this argument becomes one of causality: did the sexual persona or the sexual portrayal cause an …show more content…

“Proof” of any character’s queer identity is almost exclusively found in their sexual relationships. For this reason, so-called queerbaiting abounds: even with impressive amounts of subtext, a character cannot be deemed queer without having acted on this identity …show more content…

This idea may seem familiar, given the stereotype of promiscuous gay men and lesbians who are known for far more orgasms than straight women - a fact that cannot entirely be attributed to sexual prowess. Statistics enforce the validity of that statement: a mere 1% of the 8000 queer women surveyed by Bernard in 2015 said they had sex once a month or less. In addition, the sex that they are having is with a large number of partners - 29.4% of the adult respondents reported more than 15 partners in their lifetime (Bernhard), which is almost 20 percentage points above the equivalent for straight women (Centers for Disease Control). Among queer youth, the trend continues. More than half of queer minors have ‘lost their virginity,’ while less than 40% of straight youth can say the same (Nikels 2). 27.4% of bisexual, lesbian, or gay students reported being forced or coerced to have sex in the same survey, which is five times the rate for heterosexual youth. Even as children, queer individuals partake in more sexual activity than those who are not part of the deviant

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